Did God create poodles?

by Ken Ham

Photo by Bethan Hazell <sxc.hu>

Now before the poodle lovers of the world unite, I do not hate poodles. They may
be degenerate mutants, but they are cute ones! We have a pet dog at home. It looks
like a poodle, but it’s not a poodle—it’s a Bichon Frise. My friends
tell me though that because our dog looks like a poodle and barks like a poodle,
then it’s a poodle! Now it may as well be a ‘poodle’ in the sense
that it, too, is a degenerate mutant (though I dare not say this in the presence
of my wife).

Here’s the difficulty. Most of our domestic dog varieties, like poodles, have
numerous problems due to harmful mutations. Consider the list (see
Miniature poodle problems below) of just some of the many problems in the
poodle breed.

Now in
Genesis 1:31, God described all that He had created as being ‘very
good’. But how could a poodle, with all these mutations resulting in health
problems, be described this way?

There could not have been any poodles in the Garden of Eden. In fact, there weren’t
any poodles on Noah’s Ark either. Strange as it may sound to some, as a biblical
creationist, I can say with certainty that poodles have only come into existence
in recent times.

So if God didn’t create poodles, then who did?

In the journal Science, 22 November 2002, secular scientists reaffirmed
something that has been well known and accepted. All dogs from wolves and dingoes
down (the word ‘down’ is important as you will see) to poodles are all
closely related. From a biblical perspective, this means they are all within the
same kind (one of the kinds that God created to reproduce ‘after
their own kind’ as we read 10 times in Genesis 1).

The researchers stated:

‘The origin of the domestic dog from wolves has been established …
we examined the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequence variation among 654 domestic
dogs representing all major dog populations worldwide … suggesting a common
origin from a single gene pool for all dog populations.’1

‘Two-kilogram teacup poodles; 90-kg mastiffs; slender greyhounds; squat English
bulldogs: For a single species, canines come in a vast array of shapes and sizes.
Even more remarkably, they all come from the same stock. … Only subtle differences
distinguish dogs from coyotes, jackals, and other canids, making family trees difficult
to construct and the timing of the transition from wolf to dog hard to pinpoint.’2

Now how does this fit with a biblical creationist model of origins?

Many articles in this magazine have illustrated the fact that natural selection
and speciation are real, observed processes—understood by the science of genetics.

Creationists point out, though, that even if new species of organisms result from
natural selection, no new genetic information is involved3—the process only operates on the information (dog
information if you like, for the purposes of the example in this article) already
present in the genes. This information can be lost, redistributed and concentrated—but
the process has nothing whatsoever to do with the molecules-to-man evolutionary
idea.4

If all dogs are the same kind, then from a biblical perspective, only two
of the original dog kind were needed on Noah’s Ark. After these dogs came
off the Ark and the population of dogs increased on the earth, new species of dogs
formed as the dog population split up and moved to different places over the earth—but
they are all dogs, nonetheless.

Mutations and other forces

Most students in evolutionary-biased education come to believe that mutations and
natural selection result in one kind of creature changing into a totally different
kind over long periods of time. However, seldom, if ever is the fact presented that
for evolution to occur it is necessary for new genetic information to be added to
a creature. To date, no example of completely new additional information from a
naturally occurring mutation or selection has been observed.

The diversity of species in, for example, dogs, cats and horses, has arisen because
of their already-existing genetic information, acted upon by natural selection and
mutations.

Now in the world, environmental and other issues affect which organism with a specific
collection of genes will survive. Humans can artificially affect the outcome by
determining which animals breed with which. This is called artificial selection—and
this process developed the enormous varieties of domestic breeds in the time since
the Flood, 4,500 years ago.

Poodles were developed over time (probably from wolves) like all the other domestic
varieties of dogs (probably in France or Germany, up to 700 or more years ago).5

So we could say that God created the original dogs, and poodles were developed
by man from that original—but only using the information God put there in
the first place. So in a sense one could say God made poodles—but only in
the sense that God made all the original perfect information for dogs (which existed
in the Garden of Eden), which enabled poodles to exist.

And that brings us to the other issue. Poodles (like all domestic varieties) are
the result of a downward process! They have not just developed from dog genes, but
from cursed copies of dog genes! Sorry about that—but it is true that dogs
like poodles are the result of the Curse! Each time I arrive home and our pet Bichon
races to the door to meet me, I am reminded of my sin, that I, in Adam, sinned and
ushered in the Fall. Now my wife may think I’m nuts, but I’m trying
to illustrate an important point here.

After God pronounced everything as ‘very good’ originally, Adam sinned,
resulting in the whole of creation being cursed. Everything began to run down, no
longer upheld perfectly by the sustaining power of an infinite creator.

As each succeeding generation of creatures (including man) was produced, copying
mistakes and mutations affected the genes. Six thousand years later, there is quite
a genetic load (collection of such mistakes) in the genomes of all the animals and
humans on this earth.

Although some mutations can be beneficial (in a limited sense),6 most mutations are harmful. The most serious mutations
would not survive ‘naturally’ in the environment, as they would be lost
from the population as the dogs that carried them died before reproducing.

However, with dogs, humans can take those with particular mutations and keep them
alive by feeding them special food, cutting their hair, taking them to veterinarians
for medicine and operations, etc.

Also, the reason we call many of our domestic varieties of dogs ‘pure breeds’
is that most of the genetic variety has been bred out of them, and certain mutations
have been concentrated within particular groups.

Our dog has to have its hair cut each month (because of a mutation affecting the
shedding of its hair), is susceptible to bladder stones (it had to have a very expensive
operation), and now lives on pricey prescription food, and needs estrogen tablets
regularly! I’m thinking about health insurance for the dog!

Now when one breeds poodles with poodles (why people do this is hard to come to
grips with), only poodles will be produced, sadly! In a sense, a poodle is the end
of the line for a dog—there is not enough variety left for anything different
to develop.

Now, theoretically, in a sense, if one were to start with wolves, and breed generations
of dogs, breeding the right combinations together with all the same sorts of mutations
occurring all over again in the right sequence etc., then one could breed a dog
with poodle characteristics. But, one could never breed a wolf from a poodle
because the necessary information for wolves has been corrupted or deleted.

There is an important lesson to learn from this. The secular world uses natural
selection/speciation as a major part of the supposed evidence for molecules-to-man
evolution. However, as we’ve shown so many times, such changes have nothing
to do with this sort of evolution. People need to be educated about this so they
are not brainwashed and led astray by the world’s teachings.

Sadly, many Christian children’s books that deal with creation often have
pictures of Adam and Eve and the animals in the Garden where the animals pictured
are domesticated varieties we are familiar with today—like poodles, Jersey
cows and so on.

So churches teach students (or at least give the impression) that God created poodles
(and the other domestic varieties of animals). However, public schools teach their
pupils that such creatures have developed by processes of change that are incorrectly
presented as ‘evolution.’ Thus, in reality, they are being taught that
Christianity doesn’t accept real science and therefore the Bible must be wrong.

It is so important for churches to teach Christians the right way to look at the
world—giving them a correct understanding of science and history, so they
will be able to see through the evolutionary indoctrination of the world.

Poodles really are a reminder of both creation and the Curse. So the next time you
see a poodle, perhaps you could use it as a talking point to explain sin—but
go on to explain the message of salvation to overcome the effects of sin.

Incidentally—I really do love our dog! (I had to say that so I can continue
living at our home!)

While some mutations can be beneficial, they are not evidence for
evolution, because they don’t add any new information to the genome. For example,
if a beetle on a windswept island is born without wings, it would be less likely
to be blown into the sea. See Wieland, C.,
Beetle bloopers, Creation19(3):30, 1997.
Return to text.

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